The present invention is related to sporting equipment in general and in particular to a device for practicing bowling.
Heretofore, a person who desired to learn the game of bowling or to practice and improve certain skills in bowling, such as, for example, the foot movement, the swing, the release and the follow-through, has had to attend a conventional bowling alley. Frequently, the attending of a conventional bowling alley for the purpose of learning or practicing the game of bowling has a number of disadvantages. First, with the ever increasing interest in bowling, the bowling alleys are frequently being used for league bowling and are not readily available for practice bowling. The cost of bowling is also increasing with the ever increasing interest in bowling such that the cost of practicing at conventional bowling alleys is becoming prohibitive. Also, it is not always necessary to knock pins down to learn, practice and improve certain skills in the sport. For these reasons, an apparatus for learning and practicing the sport of bowling at home is desirable and advantageous.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,376, issued to the applicants on Sept. 6, 1977, there is disclosed and claimed a bowling practice device which has many of the advantages and features desired in these types of devices. It is relatively small in size, light in weight and portable. It can be used in the living room on a living room rug or the like. It intercepts a rolling bowling ball and returns it to the bowler. As described in the patent, the operative surface of the device comprises a ramp with a concave, upwardly sloping inclined surface and a pad located at the top of the ramp for stopping the forward motion of the bowling ball and causing the ball to roll in a reverse direction down the ramp and toward a bowler.
While certainly useful for the purpose intended, the prior patented bowling practice device is found to be expensive to manufacture and ship in that the various parts, including supporting side, bottom and rear members are not interchangeable and require a considerable amount of packing and storage space when disassembled for shipping and storage. These factors make the apparatus costly to manufacture, package and ship.